At large modern dairy farms, 600 to 2,000 cows are typically milked three times a day. The teats of each cow must be disinfected and dried prior to the cow being milked. Because of the labor intensive nature of these operations and the cost of labor, many large modern dairy farms include automatic devices for performing these operations.
Some large modern dairy farms clean, dry and milk cows located on an intermittently driven turntable with numerous stalls. The turntable is driven between adjacent stationary positions or stations. At a first station, the cows are loaded, one by one, onto the turntable stalls so one cow is in each stall. The turntable then is turned so the cow is moved to a second station, where the udders and teats of each cow are sprayed with water for cleaning. The turntable is then moved so the cow advances to a third station where the teats dry or are dried. From the third station, the cow is moved on the turntable to a fourth station where milking cups are applied to the cow teats, the cow is milked and the milk is pumped to a processing location. After the cow has been milked and while the cow remains at the fourth station, the milking cups are automatically removed from the cow teats and disinfectant is sprayed on the teats. The turntable is then turned so the cow is at a fifth station where it is discharged from the turntable. The turntable then returns to the first station where another cow is loaded onto the now-vacant stall. Usually the turntable is intermittently moved between the various stations so the cow is stationary at each station. This prior art system is advantageous because it requires a minimum amount of personnel to load and discharge the cows from the turntable.
A disadvantage in this turntable arrangement, however, is that the cows are loaded single file into the turntable stalls and some cows are reticent to get on the turntable. If one cow is reluctant to get on the turntable, the entire process is slowed because of the single file first in, first out nature of the turntable operation. The process also is quite time consuming because nothing happens to the vast majority of cows to be processed while a few cows are on the turntable.
I am also aware of other prior art as disclosed in Vosyka et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,033, LeDu, U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,292 and Jacobs et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,810,442. The apparatus and method described in all of these patents have certain disadvantages which, as far as I know, have prevented their large scale adoption and commercialization. In the Vosyka et al. system, the animals (cows) are continuously moved in a covered installation from one region to another region. The cows thus stay on the platforms and are not permitted to graze or even to move significantly. It has been found that cows subjected to such confined situations do not produce nearly as much milk as cows which graze and move about freely. Another apparent disadvantage of the Vosyka et al. arrangement is that there is no provision to wash and/or dry the teats and udders of the cows.
In the LeDu system, the animals (ewes) are loaded onto individual platforms, each including plural stalls, so one ewe is located in each stall. Two such platforms are provided and arranged so they move longitudinally on parallel tracks past a milking station occupied by an operator who applies milking cups to teats of the animals. The animals are loaded into the stalls on the platform at a position immediately next to the operator's position. The platform is driven so the animal is moved from the loading area to the cup applying area immediately after the animal has been loaded onto the car. The operator stays in the same place relative to parallel tracks for the platforms as stalls on the platform are moved in front of him in sequence. The operator turns 180.degree. to service the animals on both platforms. After the milking cups have been applied to all of the animals on a particular platform, movement of the platform stops and the milking operation of all of the animals on the platform is completed.
If difficulty is encountered in getting one animal to move from the loading area onto the platform in the LeDu system, the operator is idle and operation efficiency is decreased. The inability to get one animal from the loading area onto the platform essentially stops the production line. This inefficiency is manifested many times in a large production facility, handling 600 to 1,400 animals three times a day.
Jacobs et al. discloses a milking parlor including two parallel platforms, each of which is moved from a first area to a second area and back to the first area. At the first area, cows are loaded, single file, onto the platforms and their teats are sprayed, but not dried. After all of the cows have been loaded onto the platform at the first area, the platform is moved to the second area, where milking cups are applied to the teats of the cows and the cows are milked. After milking, the platform returns to the first area via the same path it took in going from the first to the second area. At the first area the cows are discharged from the platform and another set of cows is then loaded onto the platform. While the cows on the first platform are being milked, cows are being removed from the second platform, after which another set of cows is loaded onto the second platform. After the cows on the first platform have been milked, the cows on the second platform are moved into a second milking areas close to and opposite from where the cows on the first platform were milked.
A problem with the Jacobs et al. arrangement is that there is a considerable amount of wasted time. Nothing happens at the loading/unloading area associated with the first platform while the cows on the first platform are being milked. Similarly, nothing happens in the milking area associated with the first platform while the cows are being loaded and discharged from the first platform. Hence, the equipment at the loading and unloading area and at the milking area associated with each platform is idle for more than one-half of the time during the milking operation. This is an inefficient use of the capital investment associated with the equipment at the loading and unloading area, as well as at the milking area. The Jacobs et al. system is also inefficient because the animals are loaded single file onto the platforms. If one cow is reluctant to get on the platform the entire operation is slowed materially.
It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method of and apparatus for efficiently milking a large number of animals.
Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved method of and apparatus for milking a large number of animals simultaneously, through the efficient use of labor and equipment.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a new and improved method of and apparatus for efficiently milking a large number of animals wherein multiple animals are loaded onto a car at a first location and are transported to a second location where animals on the platform are milked and difficulties associated with loading an animal onto the platform do not adversely affect the time required for the milking operation.
A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved efficient method of and apparatus for milking a large number of animals that are loaded onto a car at a first location, transported to a second location where the animals are simultaneously milked and the milking equipment is used for substantially more than half of the time while the apparatus is in use.
An added object of the invention is to provide a new and improved method of and apparatus for milking a large number of animals on a pair of production lines, wherein only one person is required at adjacent milking stations of the two lines and a single person is required at loading and discharge areas for the two lines.
Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for milking a large number of cows wherein the cows are maintained in relatively closely confined quarters and udders and teats of the animals are cleaned with a relatively small amount of water.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved method of and apparatus for milking more than 160 cows an hour with only two people manning the milking facility, and provisions are provided for automatically washing and accomplishing drying of udders and teats of the cows.